Passing Notes
by peaceloveFANG
Summary: Voldemort fell. The first years ignored the parties and the celebrations. They saw the root of the problem. They also saw the solution. When Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts, he forms his suspicions, but it isn't until Ron Weasley comes out with a secret only the upper years are privy to that he discovers the truth behind the odd occurrences.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my first published fanfiction, so please let me know if there are gaping mistakes or whatever. Read and enjoy!

* * *

Summary: Voldemort fell. The first years ignored the parties and the celebrations. They saw the root of the problem. They also saw the solution.

When Harry Potter goes to Hogwarts, he forms his suspicions, but it isn't until Ron Weasley comes out with a secret only the upper years are privy to that he discovers the truth behind the odd occurrences.

.

Passing Notes

A Harry Potter fanfiction

By peaceloveFANG

* * *

Harry looked over at the other boy, who studied him a moment.

"Hullo," said the boy in an almost undetectably hesitant way, "my name is Draco Malfoy. What's yours?"

"Harry Potter. Pleased to meet you," Harry said. Draco's eyes widened.

:-:

The first years were meeting with each other.

You-Know-Who had been defeated that Halloween; Lily and James Potter had died, and the Boy-Who-Lived rose to fame. Tension had been drained from faces and figures throughout the Wizarding World.

And the first years whispered.

A Slytherin girl walked through the hallways with her head held high, a Hufflepuff boy gave her an appraising look as she walked by. Later that night the two met in the Come and Go Room and talked.

A Ravenclaw boy talked to a boy in red and gold, while a Badger piped up occasionally.

Two in the Hidden Things Room became four.

And the teachers never saw it, and the upper years only even suspected, but as those four first years became second years and then third years and on and on, the younger years knew.

"Nothing good ever came of Slytherin."

"Hufflepuffs are a load of duffers."

"Ravenclaws are nerds."

"All Gryffindors are fools."

While their parents celebrated a war won, four first years spread the word.

Things were changing at Hogwarts.

:-:

Harry looked around the Gryffindor common room with wide eyes.

He hadn't noticed it before, but the entire room was tense. Anticipatory. Even as arguments broke out and homework was done and laughter filled there air, it seemed like everyone was waiting for something.

In the middle of the room were, of course, the first years. But—and Harry was again struck wide-eyed—the girls were sitting differently than the boys were.

The Indian girl Patil-or-something was sitting by Lavender Brown on one side of the couch, with Hermione Granger on the other. Hermione had a thick book open on her lap and was reading avidly. The other two girls were chattering excitedly, but had their bodies angled toward Hermione in a way that seemed…almost…deferent.

The first year boys, though, sat in a decidedly unorganized fashion. Harry compared their postures and body language to the rest of the Common Room and found something off.

But it wasn't the other Gryffindors that were odd.

No, the first year boys were the ones missing something.

The Common Room waited…

:-:

Bill Weasley told Charlie about the Agreement when he was old enough to keep things to himself. Percy was told not a year later.

Ron certainly knew about it.

He knew enough to realize that he wasn't going to be The Gryffindor Firstie like Bill had been. And when he met Harry Potter, he held out a week before telling him about the Agreement.

Harry had blinked at him and then sighed.

"Did you know that Hermione's leading the girls?" he asked. Ron blinked.

"Granger?"

Harry smiled at his tone of voice and nodded. "Yeah. I didn't know what I was seeing, at first, but now I suppose she got some sort of subtle message from a book. So I figure we're going to need to ally ourselves with them."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. We need to work together."

Harry nodded again, decisively. "Okay. We need a leader to approach the girls."

"You've got my vote, mate. It was your idea," Ron said. Harry looked taken aback and then smiled brilliantly.

"Thanks, Ron. But I'm rooting for you because you knew first, so I guess we'll have to get a second opinion."

And a third and a fourth, as it turned out. Harry, as the unanimous leader of the first year boy's dorm, sat across from Hermione at breakfast.

"An alliance would be mutually beneficial," he said, cutting his eggs.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and then smiled. "I agree."

Harry nodded, smiled back, and they talked like old friends for the rest of the meal.

:-:

Neville didn't mean for his cauldron to explode. It was an accident. He followed the instructions carefully, but he had always been a bit absentminded and the board was so far away and Professor Snape was terrifying.

"It's okay, Neville," Harry said after class was dismissed. "I'm sure you'll get better."

Neville smiled tremulously at his friend and, apparently, leader. "Thanks, Harry."

"Potter."

They turned.

Malfoy stood with his arms crossed, an eyebrow raised, and two larger boys on either side of him. Two other Slytherins—first years, from their size—were further down the corridor.

"Malfoy," Harry nodded.

"So you've gotten control of your group?" Malfoy asked, interested. Neville blinked at the tone. It seemed that after the formalities he thought he was somehow equal to Harry. A hand on his shoulder made him realize he was scowling and he flushed, giving Harry an embarrassed glance.

"I'm fine, Neville. Go to class," Harry said.

Neville's eyes flicked over to the intrigued Slytherins.

"If they do anything to me you'll be able to tell people who it was. Go on," Harry encouraged. Neville nodded, bade his friend farewell, and hurried back up to ground level.

Harry turned to Draco. "Of the boys. Hermione's got the girls under her thumb."

Draco smirked. "Then you'll be contested for superiority. That should be interesting."

Harry shook his head, and then shook it again to get the hair out of his eyes. "We've got an alliance, actually. We hashed out the details on the way to Transfiguration," he said. Draco tilted his head.

"I don't know that that's ever been done before," he said. Harry shrugged.

"Well, I guess Hogwarts is in for an interesting year."

Draco nodded, and then seemed to snap into business mode. "I noticed that Longbottom was having trouble with Potions," he began. Harry nodded, grimacing slightly. Draco paused. "Did you get hit with that awful concoction?"

"Burnt like fire," Harry replied glumly. "You were saying?"

"Yes, well, I expect it would be better for all of us if he were taught how to not endanger a classroom unwittingly. If he's doing it on purpose, we'll be having another conversation." There was a hint of warning in his tone that startled Harry into laughter.

"Neville? I don't think he's wanted to hurt anybody in his entire life," Harry said. "But I'll see if I can get him to agree to getting extra lessons."

Draco nodded. "Good. I'll contact you with details if you tell me when he accepts. And…Potter?"

"Yeah?" said Harry.

"It's going to take more than five minutes to decide on the terms of our alliance, so I'll expect you to set aside a time later. After dinner, preferably."

Harry found himself grinning. "Sure, Malfoy. See you."

Draco glanced away and narrowed his eyes at the wall. "See you, Potter. Crabbe, Goyle, lets go." The Slytherins left, including the two lingering further down the corridor, and left Harry standing there before he turned and ran like mad for the Greenhouses.

:-:

Hermione hadn't just read the current edition of Hogwarts, A History. She'd read twenty three of the previous editions as well. Not that she'd do something as foolish as buy them all, not when Lumbary's Library let her borrow them for free.

Starting with the books that mentioned the fall of You-Know-Who, though, she noticed something off. In the previous editions she had been able to tell which House the author had been in by how they wrote. It wasn't anything as minuscule as their writing style, because while she was intelligent she was still eleven, but more along the lines of content.

A former Slytherin would slip in phrases like "typically Gryffindor" or "unfortunately Hufflepuff," while a Gryffindor would gloss over the details of Slytherin House and make subtle jokes about Hufflepuffs. The Badger House was typically unbiased, but they showed only the good side of things, and Ravenclaws tended to go into every nuance that made the House in question the House in question.

But in the most recent editions, that was absent. Instead, a Gryffindor author gave some oddly specific details of Slytherin, like they knew someone who had described it for them with the experience of daily life, and they praised the Hufflepuff loyalty and the Ravenclaw determination. It was an entirely new book if she looked at it by how the author sounded.

So by the time Hermione was on the train, she had a better idea of the Agreement than nearly anyone else.

And she had a plan; at Hogwarts, at least, she refused to be overlooked.

* * *

A/N: So that's the first chapter! Please, if you see any errors, let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry shut the door behind him and went to sit beside Ron. Even though Harry had a lot to do with his new alliances and adjusting to the new world, he and Ron had kept their friendship and seeing him pale and unconscious in the Hospital Wing made Harry unhappy.

Somehow it felt like it was his fault, even if he hadn't been anywhere near the incident. Hermione had been chastising Ron for making a tasteless and highly offensive joke at dinner when a Ravenclaw upperclassman heard and, he was told, made a derogatory sound and comment. At that time Harry had been in the dungeons escorting Neville to his Potions tutoring with Blaise Zabini. When he returned to the Common Room he'd heard what had happened, and that Ron had ended up defending Hermione and being cursed.

Harry sighed and sat on the edge of Ron's bed. The sleeping boy stirred and blinked at him.

"…Harry?"

"How'd you know?" asked Harry, smiling half heartedly.

"The glasses on your shine…I mean…" Ron's mouth opened wide and he yawned lordly. "Sorry, mate. 'M really tired."

"I heard you were cursed," Harry said quietly. Ron blinked.

"Only with a mild sleeping hex. Fell face first into my plate, good thing it was empty. I'll be fine …*yawn*…by morning."

Some of the tension left Harry's body. He smiled again. "That's good. You'll miss Neville in his first Potions class after he started tutoring if you sleep too late," he said, and some of the tension eased from the atmosphere as well. Ron frowned sleepily.

"Oh, Potions," he spat. Then he sighed. "Alright, Harry, I'll be there. Only for you and Neville, of course."

Harry's smile widened.

"Of course. Not like you want to see the look on Snape's face when he sees Neville not melt a cauldron."

"Petty vengeance? Not my…*yawn…not my style," mumbled Ron, eyes closing. Harry patted his leg and stood, smiling.

"'Night, Ron," he whispered. Ron made a noise that vaguely resembled a farewell and slipped back into slumber.

Harry left the Hospital Wing much happier. Ron was okay, Dean was over his cold, Hermione was safely out of her funk, and Neville was going to kick Potions arse tomorrow morning, thanks to Draco and Blaise.

It had surprised him that Gryffindors and Slytherins could get along so well, given what Hagrid said. Pansy and Lavender had shuffled a bit, but then Ron had caved and told them about the Agreement, as one of the Gryffindors of the time had seen it. He talked about how his brother told him that after Halloween, nobody wanted the prejudices anymore, and nobody wanted people walking about that were weak from oppression. It was easy enough, he said, to spread the idea around the isolated school, but the hundreds of older wizards set in their ways would be impossible to convince. Then he shrugged and said that that was alright because immediately wasn't important and it was that generation that had mattered, anyway. He sobered and mentioned that things had changed a lot and there was more competition, too.

Contemplative silence had fallen, and the impromptu meeting had disbanded in the thoughtful quiet.

Now Harry saw it everywhere. The upperclassmen saw the firsties as easy prey, weaker and unaware of the dynamic. But he knew what it would take for him to be taken seriously in Gryffindor.

He had to get stronger. Much stronger.

:-:

When Harry first approached the youngest Lions with his idea, Lavender had been skeptical. All she had heard was "more work."

Then Ron blinked rapidly and said, "You know how we can be respected even though we're first years?"

After that she was all ears.

They had all been. Even impatient Seamus had listened eagerly as Harry paced the boy's dorm—which had become their meeting place shortly after the alliance was formed—and explained his plan.

Firstly, they would all make sure to study and work hard in their classes. There was no use, he said, in looking into higher level spells when they might have missed something basic due to carelessness.

Secondly, they had to eat healthy meals. Desserts were okay, but protein and calcium were important. Of course, he had to explain what both of those things were, but then they were ready to listen again.

"Maybe we can make lists of things we hear about or read about that seem interesting," Harry said, finally standing still, "but we shouldn't try anything above our level until we've finished this year's material."

Hermione sat up straighter, eyes blazing.

"Lets be the best group of Gryffindors Hogwarts has ever seen! The smartest, the hardest working! When they look in the records book, lets make sure our year stands out as the best!"

"That won't make us respected," Lavender pointed out.

"But it works to the same end," Dean said. "If we learn fast and work hard, the professors will give us access to harder stuff, and we can get stronger."

Hermione frowned. "Well, that's one way to look at it, I suppose."

"I think it's a great idea," Parvati said loyally. Lavender nodded.

"It's practically guaranteed to get results," she added.

Harry looked around the room, at the children sitting on beds or on the floor, and smiled. "We're agreed, then?"

The response was unanimous and loud, though quickly shushed by a scolding Hermione.

:-:

The first time Lisa saw a boy in Slytherin colors sitting with two Gryffindor boys, she passed him off as an oddity. But because she was a Ravenclaw, the incident made her notice things.

A Slytherin walking with Ron Weasley to Charms, and the two of them chatting in low voices.

Hermione Granger lecturing the Gryffindor girls and two Slytherins for bickering.

Draco Malfoy snickering at Harry Potter, and the latter simply rolling his eyes.

When Lisa saw a group of mixed Slytherin and Gryffindor first years in the library for the second time, she walked to their table and crossed her arms.

"I want to know what is going on, and I want to know now."

They looked at each other.

"What makes you think something is going on?" asked the Gryffindor.

"Firstly, Gryffindors and Slytherins never, ever get along. My parents and all the books I've read tell horror stories about arguments between your Houses. Secondly, its extremely rare to see anyone but Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in the library, much less in groups of three. So what's going on?"

Another look was exchanged, and one of the Slytherins started to speak.

"An Agreement?" Lisa murmured when he was done. "That's…certainly something. How do you know?"

"Ron Weasley's older brother was in the year that perpetrated it," said the Gryffindor. One of the Slytherins nodded along. "Alongside that, Hermione Granger figured it out using the last twenty-something volumes of Hogwarts, A History."

Lisa blinked. "That's a lot of reading time."

"She had a long summer," said a Slytherin dryly. Lisa rolled her eyes at him and then narrowed her eyes at the group.

"Why aren't Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff involved? You're withholding vital information, you know."

One of the Slytherins scoffed. "Nobody is supposed to know until second year, at least. That way the hierarchy establishes with subtle influences from older students, not by the year group's preferences."

"Bloody snake," muttered the Gryffindor. He got kicked under the table.

Lisa stood straight. "I'm going to talk to my House, and Hufflepuff. Meet here this Saturday after breakfast."

She walked away.

Another piece fell into place...

* * *

A/N:

So the second chapter is up now, hooray. Please tell me if my writing style is disgustingly vague.

Anyway, so we're getting into the story now! That's a lie, actually; were you fooled? I'm still expositioning here (is that a word? No?). Introducing important characters, etc. It should get more exciting later. Maybe.

Jeez, I had an idea and now I have no idea what's going on with it. What a pain.

Please review, tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Harry laughed as Draco scowled at Ron's joke. The entire year was staying at school for Christmas so they could get more work done.

"That's puerile, Weasley," Draco said. Ron looked over to Hermione for help, but she just pointed at the shelf of reference materials. Ron scowled back at Draco and stomped off, blushing and muttering. Harry laughed helplessly.

A few tables down one of the Ravenclaws glared at him until his laughter died down. He offered an insincere mouthed apology. She rolled her eyes and returned to her book.

In the back of his mind he had known, when he shared his idea with his Housemates, that he would have to tell Draco as well. He knew the Slytherins were researching manners, laws, and history as well as major loopholes more vigorously than the other Houses, but that was to be expected. What he hadn't known, couldn't have even guessed, he mused as he looked at a table full of giggling girls from all four Houses, was that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw would get involved as well.

"Drifting off, Potter?" Draco asked. Harry glanced over and shrugged.

"I'm a bit hungry. When's lunch?"

"We still have two hours," Hermione told him.

"Two hours?" moaned Ron, who had returned with the dictionary by this time. "That's just about forever!

And," he added with a glare at Draco and an angry finger-jab to the open dictionary, "I'm not childish."

"Boys," Hermione sighed, while Harry reminded Ron that they were still eleven and allowed to be childish.

Lisa and Parvati approached their table.

"Ron, your brothers are looking for you," Parvati said. Ron groaned and stood, slumping out of the library and muttering to himself again. Harry called out "Good Luck!" to his back and got a limp hand wave in return.

Draco gave a distasteful look to Ron's dictionary. "Can't he put his books away?"

"I'm sure he doesn't have much experience with book learning, Malfoy, be a little more lenient," Lisa said, taking Ron's seat. Parvati pulled up a chair close beside her and opened the books they'd brought.

"We found an old Hogwarts syllabus," Lisa said. "It's got a section for grade lists, too."

"They can publish students' grades?" Hermione muttered, sounding disgusted. "That's an awful breach of privacy."

"It's from back in the war with Grindelwald," Lisa said. "It was published thirty years ago, after the war ended. The whole book is somebody's reasoning for why standards should be raised in war."

Hermione sat up, and Harry's eyes widened. "If we followed the standards set during a war, we'll definitely learn a lot!" she exclaimed. Harry nodded.

"It's sure to be more advanced. Muggles sure raise the bar when it comes to students in wartime." He pulled a face. "I had to do a paper on it."

Draco nodded as well. "I agree. Can we get this copied?"

Lisa considered the book and then looked up with a smile. "There's a spell in here for that, actually."

"Excellent. Get some people to learn the spell and copy the syllabus, then have it distributed."

Hermione looked up, a serious expression on her face. "This has a lot on Care of Magical Creatures. Do you guys think we should have everyone learn that?"

Harry considered while Draco launched an immediate reply. "I think so," he said finally, interrupting a building argument. "Remember the troll this Halloween? It sent Professor Hooch to the Hospital Wing, and she's a mature witch."

"She's also the flying instructor," Lisa pointed out. "She probably doesn't remember as many spells as the other professors do."

"That doesn't make the fact that there was a troll any less threatening," Draco said. "It was awfully close to the Slytherin dormitories. What if a student had gotten cornered before Quirrell ran into the Great Hall? What if that happens again?"

"He's right," Harry said. "We need to be prepared."

"So you're saying we need to know not only how to care for creatures, but how to kill them?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Hermione, what if they get something like rabies? What if an animal is abused and lashes out at anybody that comes near?" Harry reasoned.

Parvati put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I know it might be hard to accept, but some things just can't be allowed. We have to be strong enough to realize that."

Hermione sighed and slumped in her chair. "Strong…" she murmured. "I understand, but I don't have to like it." Parvati nodded sympathetically.

"I know. Come on, lets go look up this copying spell."

The two girls left the table, Hermione carrying her notes.

"Girls," Harry said. Draco smirked slightly when Lisa kicked him under the table and then looked up at a pair of approaching Ravenclaws, ignoring Harry's surprised yelp easily.

* * *

Harry frowned.

"A map of Hogwarts?"

Hermione nodded, Lisa looking on attentively from the table behind her.

The four leaders of the first years, along with a messenger from Hufflepuff, were standing in the library the first weekend after Christmas. The topic of a place to practice physical skills had come up, and with a bit of thought Hermione had requested a map of the school.

"There are no maps of Hogwarts," Draco said. "The school is always changing."

Hermione sighed. "Well, does anybody have a better idea?"

Wayne Hopkins, the Hufflepuff, spoke up. "We could ask an upper year?" A moment later he flinched away from Draco's glare.

A few days before, word of the First Year Alliance leaked into the Hufflepuff upper years. They had kept it a secret from the upper years of other Houses, supporting and tutoring their junior members, but Draco had reacted to the news with an icy rage. Hermione and Lisa had managed to calm him down by giving logical arguments why the situation was advantageous to letting one fourth of their alliance muck about with no leadership or guidance. He stopped glaring at everything wearing yellow and black regardless of their involvement, instead focusing his glower at Hufflepuffs who tried to talk to him.

Hermione shook her head. "No, I don't think so," she told Wayne, ignoring the way Draco was glaring at the poor boy. "And we can't ask teachers for anything either."

Lisa giggled.

Harry glanced at her. "What's so funny?"

"It isn't really funny," she said, sobering. She glanced down unhappily. "I was just thinking. We can't ever go to the teachers for anything, can we? They aren't allowed to know about the Agreement, much less the Alliance that we're even keeping secret from our Houses."

"We'd keep it secret from our House anyway," muttered Draco to the bookshelves. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Of course you would."

Hermione tsked at him. "So would we, Harry. You do realize that we're first years even with the backing of three other Houses? Looking at this realistically, older Gryffindors are still much stronger than us and for all that we work together, there is no teamwork. We aren't leaders yet; for Merlin's sake, we're eleven!"

Harry looked properly chastised. Lisa giggled at his expression, making Draco roll his eyes and Wayne smile slightly. The serious atmosphere drained away into a more playful feeling.

"If somebody can get me a list of places that will hold an entire year's worth of children practicing magic, I can probably pick one or two based on process of elimination," Hermione offered.

Lisa made an uncertain noise. "You already do so much, though," she protested.

"Nonsense," Hermione insisted. "I'm perfectly capable of doing this as well."

Harry smiled. "Don't worry, Lisa, Hermione works best under pressure."

"As long as she really is working better and not just working faster," Draco muttered. Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

"If you think you can handle the work," Wayne began, "I'll get the Hufflepuffs to start a list."

Hermione beamed at him, countering Draco's glare.

"That's an excellent idea, Wayne. Harry and Draco will do the same, won't they?" Here she gave them a questioning stare that made them both vaguely uncomfortable.

"'Course," said Harry.

Draco scowled. "Don't presume to order me around, lion."

"Just do your part and I won't have to, you slimy snake," Hermione countered. Lisa snickered. Draco looked away angrily.

"It's no fair to team up on him," Harry complained. Draco rolled his eyes.

"I don't need your help, Potter," he muttered.

"I can't help it, Malfoy, its so hard to watch you beaten," Harry replied.

"Guys, leave off Malfoy," Wayne said. There was much muttering. Draco sneered at them all.

"I'll get you a list, Granger," he acquiesced finally.

"Excellent," Hermione said. She nodded at Draco and turned to Harry. "See if you can't get information from Ron. His brothers ought to know a thing or two." Harry blinked.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that," he murmured.

"Well, brawn does triumph over brain in Gryffindor," Lisa said sweetly. Harry rolled his eyes.

Hermione sighed. "Stay on track, won't you? I'd like that list by this weekend, in order to have a location ready for next weekend."

Draco picked up his bag. "Slytherin has a match soon," he said. "Practices will be often, and often watched."

"Good, so you'll have space to talk," Hermione concluded. "Alright. I'm going to look through Hogwarts, A History. Lisa?"

Lisa shook her head. "We have reference materials in the Tower Library, but thanks."

"I'm off, then," said Wayne. "The others'll want to hear about this."

"So long as by 'others' you don't mean 'upper years,'" Draco grumbled.

"Come on," Harry muttered, echoed by Lisa. Hermione shook her head.

"I'm leaving as well. My copy is in my dorm, so I won't need to hang around in here."

She picked up her bag, followed by Wayne, and he left while she gathered her papers. Once they were gone Harry, Lisa, and Draco glanced at one another, Draco still holding his bag.

"You know, whatever's in the third floor corridor might be useful," Harry mentioned.

"Harry, whatever's in the third floor corridor might be deadly," Lisa said. She and Draco ended up closing their eyes and hoping for patience when Harry blinked at her.

"So? And why would there be anything dangerous at Hogwarts? Isn't it exceptionally safe?"

"Harry, children with wands are dangerous. The professors are dangerous. For Merlin's sake, don't you think the troll was dangerous?" exclaimed Lisa.

"Hogwarts is considered safe in that nothing from the outside can hurt us here," Draco added. Harry huffed.

"I know. But why would they bring something dangerous into the castle?"

"Maybe somebody else thought like you, and is protecting something," Lisa speculated.

"Then why add deadly protections to the wards of Hogwarts?" Draco countered.

Harry shook his head. "I don't have a clue. I'm going to talk to Ron about training areas," he said, grabbing his bag. Lisa nodded and turned back to her budding argument with Draco.

Harry left them debating the meaning of the warning towards the third floor corridor and went to talk to Ron about his brothers.

* * *

True to Draco's statement, the Slytherin common room was nearly devoid of students. In fact, besides Blaise and Millicent, there were only three other students present.

"Go get Pansy, Tracey, and Daphne," he instructed Millicent as he walked by. To Blaise, he jerked his head at the three soon-to-be interlopers. Blaise turned, wand in hand, and Draco headed into the boy's dormitories.

The first year boy's room was coated in pink smog, though it was thinner than it had been the day before. Theodore Nott looked up.

"Vincent and Gregory are trying to wash the smell out of their hair."

Draco wrinkled his nose. The room smelled strongly of raspberry, and the smell was permeating everything in the room.

"I want to talk to you," he said instead of demanding whoever caused this be strung up by their fingers. Theo raised an eyebrow.

"Then talk."

Draco made an impatient noise. "In the common room, if you don't mind."

Theo shrugged and closed his book, tucking his wand behind his ear. It was a gesture he only made in the relative privacy of the House. Theo stood and brushed past Draco.

"Gregory! Vincent!"

After a moment, two lumbering forms parted the smog around them. Their hair gleamed with water, which dripped down their faces and necks to soak their collars.

"At least cast a Drying Charm, you lumps," Draco said, whirling and leaving the room. They glanced at each other and cast the charm, though Gregory got it wrong and left Vincent with orange eyebrows.

There was a second year sitting on a couch, bent over a book and muttering madly. She swished her wand sharply, brushing slightly unkempt hair out of her face.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, then at Blaise, who shrugged.

"She's got shields up," Blaise said. Draco nodded and took a seat, dropping his bag beside him.

Millicent had already returned with Pansy and Daphne, one striding ahead of her and the other skulking behind.

"Tracey's in the Hospital Wing," Pansy said to explain the girl's absence. Theo leaned forward, eager for a story, but Draco cut Pansy off before she could talk.

"Granger wants a list of potential practice areas," Draco said without preamble.

"Practice areas?" murmured Theo, who never paid much attention unless things exploded.

"For spells," Draco clarified. "A place that will fit the whole Alliance."

Pansy snickered. "You make it sound like we're all one group."

"Because we are, Pansy," said Blaise. He rolled his eyes and crossed his ankle over his knee gracefully. "We can't rely on our House."

"Can't we just rely on ourselves?" lamented Daphne. "What happened to independence?"

"They're our allies now, Daphne," pointed out Millicent. "They have to give up just as much as we do to work together."

"How much do they gain in return, though?" murmured Pansy. They fell silent, pondering the question.

Vincent and Gregory walked in, the former with still-wet hair and florescent eyebrows. Theo helpfully cast a Drying Charm, but left the eyebrows alone. Vincent sent him a grateful look, and then blinked as his eyebrows tingled from Pansy's spell.

"They were orange," she told him. He leveled a suspicious glance at Gregory, who ignored him.

Draco cleared his throat. "Anyway," he said, "we're breaking the mold. Going our own way, against the system, righting wrongs, that sort of thing."

"Righting wrongs?" repeated Vincent, worried.

"Against us," Draco clarified, which led Vincent to relax, relieved.

Theo rolled his eyes. "Practice areas? Anyone?"

"I suppose the Forbidden Forest is out of the question?" asked Pansy. Daphne coughed lightly.

"Pansy, the Forbidden Forest is always out of the question, at least until fourth year," she said.

Draco tapped his fingers on the table. "Can we please give some viable options?"

Theo took out a quill and a piece of parchment. He scribbled a bit, and then turned the parchment so they could see it.

"The Quidditch Pitch is only ever open late at night," Blaise pointed out. Theo crossed it off the list. Draco looked it over.

"Not the library, and not the Potions lab. If only we could find an abandoned classroom…"

They looked at each other.

"We can't be sure it's real, Draco," Pansy said.

Daphne looked thoughtful. "What would it cost us to try?"

"Possibly everything."

"You're such a cynic, Blaise. Everything could cost us possibly everything," Theo complained.

A sort of gleam entered Draco's eye. "Dobby," he said clearly. There was a pop, and they all looked at the House Elf.

"How can Dobby be helping Young Master Draco?" the elf wavered.

"Tell me about the Come and Go Room."

* * *

A/N:

So! I don't think very many people are actually reading this story, but for anybody that cares I updated it. Yayy.

So. Plot-thing! I'm not entirely sure what's going on here. That's okay. Probably.

Anyway.

Comments and criticism are welcome! Grammar, plot ideas, vagueness, or anything else!


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